30

Thomas crouched down behind the bushes outside the Slaters’ home. There was a light on in the basement. Miss Slater was doing laundry. He moved slowly up the front steps and brushed off his brand new black pants without making too much noise and fuss about it.

He rang the doorbell. It wasn’t something he liked to do usually, ringing the bell, he preferred to knock, but he supposed it would have to do, since Miss Slater was in the basement. He adjusted his new black tie and sports jacket.

“Hello,” she answered the door.

“Hi, Miss Slater?” Thomas said. “You’re the owner of 9331 Glenbrook Drive?”

“Yes I am,” she said, confused.

“Did the rent on the place go through okay?”

“Uh, yes it did.”

“And you’ve received payment for how many months, so far?”

“Just this month. Can I ask what this is about.”

“Sorry Miss Slater, they sent me down here just to confirm payment. No one else has contacted you about payment?”

“No, why would they?”

“Do you know when you’ll be receiving the next month’s payment?”

“No, the rent is all paid up until the end of July.”

Thomas made a mental note of that.

“Right,” Thomas said, thinking on his feet, “well, after that time, you can expect Mr. Falconer to contact you on the 31st of that month for further payment.”

“No one named Falconer contacted me.”

“I’m a representative of his.”

“Henry Falconer?” she was skeptical.

“Thomas Falconer actually, attorney at law. Adam‘s lawyer.”

“Thomas Falconer? Well, Adam’s father was the man who gave me the cheques, and he also gave me Adam’s notice on the place. He said it would be empty by August first.”

Thomas made another mental note.

“Adam’s father wrote the cheques you say?”

“That’s right. Adam’s been under the weather since his accident, that’s why he’s moving back home in August. You say, you were sent by a Mr. Thomas Falconer?” she reached for something inside the doorway.

“Thank you for your time,” Thomas quickly hop-stepped down the stairs.

“Hey,” Miss Slater called after him, “wait!” She was looking up a Thomas Falconer, attorney at law in the Yellow Pages, “come back here!”

Thomas ducked into the alley, three houses down the lane. He’d never realized how hard it was to run in a black suit with sunglasses and stop everything from flying out into the street.

***

“Hello?” Leah answered her phone.

“Hey, it’s Thomas.”

“Oh, hey.”

“Hey, listen, I’ve been doing some investigating and uh, I’ve got some pretty disturbing news about the place.”

“Adam‘s place, what about?”

“It’s about Falconer.”

“Falconer? I still can’t believe Adam knows him, the guy’s running for president.”

“I know, right? Anyway, I went down to Adam’s landlady’s place and its true, I pretty much confirmed Falconer’s paid his rent.”

“Yeah.”

“But, he’s only paid until the end of July, and he’s given notice on the place. Said it would be empty by August first.”

“What?”

“Yeah, that’s not all. The man who wrote the cheques claimed to be Adam’s dad.”

“Oh my God, Adam doesn’t have a dad.”

“I know, tell me about it.”